What's New: An Online Update for Frommer's Texas
In addition to its historic sites and storied landscapes, Texas offers plenty of new discoveries, including world-class museums, chic restaurants, and high-tech sports arenas. Here are the latest innovations of a dynamic destination.
Dallas
Hotel Zaza (tel. 866/769-2894; www.hotelzaza.com) is the new "it" hotel in town, full of beautiful people and movers and shakers. The swanky boutique hotel in the heart of slick Uptown features exotic themed suites and a sumptuous lounge and restaurant, Dragonfly, that has become a draw in its own right.
The Dallas dining scene is suddenly sophisticated, with a slew of exciting options among the openings. Among the new and notable are: Local (tel. 214/752-7500), a small, arty foodie preserve housed in Deep Ellum's old Boyd Hotel. Though chicly spare, the restaurant puts a refined sheen on comfort food. Rouge (tel. 214/350-6600) is an unexpected delight, offering authentic Spanish dishes, some with a unique twist, in a seductive den that looks lifted from North Africa. Fireside Pies (tel. 214/370-3916) is where Dallasites are willing to wait for scrumptious New York-style pizzas with fresh, unusual ingredients. La Duni Latin Cafe (tel. 214/941-4304), a Latino hot spot, is equal parts chic cafe, cool cocktail lounge, and diet-busting bakery. It does fresh twists on lunch and dinner favorites from across the Americas and desserts that will have you taking the rest of the meal home in a doggy bag.
Among the closings in Dallas in the last couple years were several stalwarts of the Dallas dining scene, including ballyhooed Star Canyon, Liberty Noodles, and family-fave Frank Tolbert's Chili Parlor.
The long-awaited Nasher Sculpture Center (tel. 214/242-5100; www.nashersculpturecenter.org), which shows off one of the world's foremost collections of modern sculpture, finally opened in 2003. The site, adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Art, features a structure designed by the celebrated architect Renzo Piano and an outdoor sculpture garden landscaped by Peter Walker.
The Dallas Museum of Art (tel. 214/922-1200) has just completed a much-needed restoration of its contemporary galleries, transforming the erstwhile maze of small galleries into a 9,000-square-foot space with high ceilings and an airy openness.
A newly introduced Fair Park Passport gives visitors entrance to all eight Fair Park Museums for a single price, a savings of 40% over retail admission prices (tel. 214/428-5555).
A massive new exhibit, "Mundo Maya," featuring a 400,000-gallon shark tank, has opened at the Dallas World Aquarium (tel. 214/720-2224; www.dwazoo.com).
The Frisco Rough Riders (tel. 972/334-1909; www.ridersbaseball.com), the minor-league feeder team for MLB's Texas Rangers, opens up a brand-new stadium north of Dallas in the boomtown of Frisco. Professional soccer's old Dallas Burn, FC Dallas, moves from the Cotton Bowl in spring 2005 to a new home north of Dallas, also in Frisco, at the Frisco Soccer & Entertainment Center. The MLS Cup will be held at their home stadium in November 2005. The Dallas Sidekicks (www.dallassidekicks.com) of the Major Indoor Soccer League were inactive during the 2004-05 season, though there are hopes that indoor soccer will be back for the 2005-06 season.
The shopping fever Uptown seems unstoppable. West Village (www.westvil.com), a Euro-style open-air mall with a retro look, is the credit card hot spot in town, with ultrachic clothing shops and some of the city's trendiest restaurants and bars. Dallas's revered and elegant art-filled NorthPark Center (tel. 214/363-7441) is undergoing a massive renovation that will double its size by the end of 2005.
Contemporary jazz favorite and supper club Sambuca (tel. 214/744-0820) moved from its downtown location to a new spot Uptown, where it's bigger and slicker, but still has live music every night of the week. Happening cocktail bars and funky lounges are all the rage; drawing raves and hordes of trendsetters (or followers) in the West Village are Nikita (tel. 214/520-6454), which plays on a Russian vodka bar theme for its sex appeal, and Cru (tel. 214/526-9463), a wine bar and restaurant where you can take a trip around the world by virtue of its interesting wine flights. Hotel Zaza's swanky Dragonfly bar (tel. 800/597-8399) is a popular spot for pre-dinner cocktails (by the pool, if you want to go Hollywood) as well as hooking up before the night gets too old.
The local incarnation of Houston's renowned honky-tonk Gilley's (tel. 214/888-GILLEYS), where John Travolta and Debra Winger got hot and sweaty with mechanical bulls in Urban Cowboy, finally opened downtown. Competing with it as a haven for boot-scooters is Cowboys Red River Dancehall (tel. 214/352-1796).
Longtime fave the Bronco Bowl, where the Sex Pistols ripped it up during a U.S. tour when I was in high school, finally waved bye-bye after many years of bucking trends with live rock, rockabilly, and country shows.
Fort Worth
Restaurants (and bars) continue to multiply around Sundance Square. Zolon (tel. 817/885-8440) is a nice new casual American bistro and sister restaurant to two other popular downtown eateries, Angeluna and Zo¿.
The cool free green trolleys that patrolled downtown are a thing of the past, having been purchased by hometown company Pier I for its employees, though city buses traveling in the downtown area are now free.
The Kimbell Art Museum (tel. 817/332-8451) and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (tel. 817/738-9215), two of the finest art museums not just in the Southwest but the entire country, are now open late (until 8pm or later) on Friday nights -- perfect for date night!
The Grapevine Vintage Railroad (tel. 817/410-3123; www.gvrr.com) -- formerly called the Tarantula Steam Train -- continues to travel from the Stockyards to nearby, historic Grapevine, but its 1896 steam train, engine #2248 of the old Tarantula Railroad, remains inoperable for the time being. Until it is up and running, you can still hop aboard trains with diesel engines and make the enjoyable trip.
Sadly, atmospheric Big Balls of Cowtown, where classic Western swing dancing reigned, has retired its boots. In the same space is Pearl's Dancehall & Saloon (tel. 817/624-2800; www.pearlsdancehallandsaloon.com), featuring live "classic country" music and open only on weekends.
Houston
There's much ado in Houston, especially in the downtown area, where new hotels and restaurants are popping up like mushrooms -- and everything indicates that development will continue. The new light rail line, which connects downtown, the museum district, the Texas Medical Center, and the South Main area, has proved immensely popular with locals and has exceeded all ridership estimates in its first year of operation. It is a particularly welcome advent for visitors who are reluctant to rent a car. They can now stay either downtown or in the South Main area and enjoy all the attractions along this corridor: performing arts and sporting events, museums, restaurants, and shops. This makes Houston much more attractive as a weekend destination by shortening the amount of time it takes to get one's bearings and providing ready access to the attractions that make this city so much fun.
Among the new downtown restaurants to create a splash is 17 (tel. 832/200-8888), at the stylish and modern Sam Houston Hotel (www.samhoustonhotel.com). Another hotel/restaurant duo, Hotel Icon (www.hotelicon.com) and Bank Jean-Georges (tel. 832/667-4470), is set in an old bank building renovated in a style that recalls a time in the early 20th century when travel was associated with luxury and indulgence. Bank serves a delectable assortment of fusion dishes as well as steak and a few other local favorites.
Speaking of steak, also downtown is a new steakhouse, Vic & Anthony's (tel. 713/228-1111), which offers the full carnivore experience, with lots of dark wood paneling, thick rugs, and U.S.D.A. prime beef.
Elsewhere, Shade (tel. 713/863-7500), the first prominent restaurant to circumvent the longstanding dry laws of the Heights neighborhood, offers up wonderful New American cooking in a modern setting. In the Hotel Derek, a new restaurant, the Bistro Moderne, will be open by the time you read this. It looks flashy and has the potential to become a real crowd pleaser for the Uptown/Galleria crowd.
Houston's newest sports venue is also downtown: the Toyota Center (tel. 713/627-3865), where the men's and women's professional basketball teams play. It's just a few blocks from the Houston Astros baseball field on downtown's east side. Meanwhile, in the northwest corner of downtown, the new Downtown Aquarium (tel. 713/223-3474) has a shark tank that is viewed from a miniature train that runs through a glass tunnel in the tank. (Sounds a little like one of those later Jaws movies, doesn't it?) It has several exhibits and is the biggest family attraction in the downtown area.
Gulf Coast
Galveston
The Texas company that operates the state's most popular water park in the German Hill Country town of New Braunfels plans to open its third water park near the airport (next door to Moody Gardens) sometime in late 2005 (its second is in South Padre Island). Tentatively called Schlitterbahn III, the water park will have innovative rides and a wave pool for surfing. For more info, visit the website www.schlitterbahn.com.
San Antonio
New lodgings that sit directly on the River Walk are always a big deal, and this time there are two major ones to report. (Maybe the bigger news is that neither is part of a corporate chain.) The Watermark Hotel, 212 W. Crockett St., San Antonio, TX 78205 (tel. 866/605-1212; www.watermarkhotel.com), sister property to La Mansión del Rio, right across the river, is especially noteworthy for its expansive spa. Both hotels fall into the "very expensive" category.
In addition, several big chain hotels underwent major renovations. The Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa, 9800 Hyatt Resort Dr., San Antonio, TX 78251 (tel. 800/233-1234; https://hillcountry.hyatt.com) spent megabucks in 2004 on, among other things, morphing the guest rooms from country-cute to Texas sophisticated. The San Antonio Airport Hilton, 611 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78216 (tel. 800/HILTONS; www.hilton.com), devoted multimillions to spiffing up its image, too, trading in Lone Star chairs for earth-tone lounges. Hmmm . . . Don't y'all want to be associated with cowboys any more?
A couple of San Antonio's most recent arrivals on the dining scene are hot, hot, hot. The "New Tex-Mex" fare, the wildly colorful dining rooms, and the creators -- Lisa Wong of Rosario and Bruce Auden of Biga, both long-time local celebrity chefs -- have made Acenar, 146 E. Houston St. (tel. 210/222-CENA), an instant River Walk success. And whoever doubted that Southtown was still happening need only check out the Latin rhythms, the mix-it-up Latin American menu, and the sharply dressed crowd at Azuca, 713 S. Alamo (tel. 210/225-5550).
Ciao Lavanderia, 226 E. Olmos (tel. 210/822-3990), the sister restaurant to Bistro Vatel and in the same strip mall, serves stylish Italian food that's a great bargain to boot.
The most important -- or at least longest-heralded -- entry on the attractions scene, the Museo Americano Smithsonian, 101 South Santa Rosa Blvd. (tel. 210/458-2300), was set to open on July 4th, 2005. A cornerstone of the Centro Alamada project, devoted to exploring the city's Hispanic roots, MAS -- get it? -- is positioned at the entryway to Market Square.
Having expanded its Latin American holdings in the 1990s, the San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave. (tel. 210/978-8100), is looking eastward: Once the Lenora and Walter F. Brown Asian Art Wing opens in spring 2005, the institution will boast the largest Asian art collection in Texas and one of the most extensive in the Southwest.
Although the two theme parks at the outskirts of town, SeaWorld San Antonio, 10500 SeaWorld Dr. (tel. 800/700-7766), and Six Flags Fiesta Texas, 17000 I-10 West (tel. 800/473-4378), continue to compete to outdo each other with splashy new shows and thrill rides, for a change the biggest news in family fun is downtown: Davy Crockett's Tall Tales Ride, the last piece in the new multimillion-dollar Ripley's Haunted Adventure and Guinness World's Record Museum complex, 329 Alamo Plaza (tel. 210/226-2828), will be completed in early 2005, combining a (very loose) history lesson with a lot of fun.
Austin
The expansion of Austin's convention center to double its previous size, completed in 2002, resulted in an accompanying increase in the number of downtown hotel rooms. In this competitive environment, many chains have had to come up with creative ways to give the consumer more bang for his or her buck. Take, for example, the new Hampton Inn & Suites Austin-Downtown, 200 San Jacinto Blvd., Austin, TX 78701 (tel. 800/HAMPTON; www.hamptoninn.com), which offers such upscale extras as room service from P.F. Chang's and Fleming's.
In contrast, near the University of Texas, old is in. Not long after its 2003 debut, the Mansion at Judges Hill, 1900 Rio Grande, Austin, TX 78705 (tel. 800/311-1619; www.mansionatjudgeshill.com), a converted late-19th-century home with a 1980s annex, became the place to stay in town. Not far away, the owner of the excellent Austin Folk House purchased the historic Governor's Mansion B&B, rechristened it the Star of Texas Inn, 611 W. 22nd St., Austin, TX 78705 (tel. 866/472-6700; https://staroftexasinn.com), and performed her magic on the rooms and public areas.
For those keener on pampering than sightseeing, the biggest scoop is the completion of the new spa at the Lake Austin Spa Resort, 1705 S. Quinlan Park Rd., Austin, TX 78732 (tel. 800/847-5637; www.lakeaustin.com), about a half-hour from the center of town. The 25,000-square-foot facility, opened in 2004, finally gives the property treatment rooms to match its idyllic setting and myriad nature-oriented activities.
It's tough to keep track of the culinary comings and goings around Austin -- and especially downtown. One of the most interesting recent arrivals, Roaring Fork, 701 Congress Ave. (tel. 512/583-0000), was first introduced in Scottsdale, but chef Robert McGrath is a Texan, so his exciting New Texas cuisine deserves to be heralded on its home turf.
Proof that the hip South Austin scene has moved beyond Congress Avenue (but not far), Uchi, 801 S. Lamar (tel. 512/916-4808), may be the most dazzling new eatery in town, with its Japan-meets-New American menu.
Most of the recent news in the Austin sightseeing arena is arts- and culture-oriented. The long-awaited reopening of the Austin Museum of Art -- Laguna Gloria, 3809 W. 35th St. (tel. 512/458-8191), in 2003 surprised many with its shift of focus away from the art that hangs on the walls of the institution's historic structure to the historic building itself and its lovely grounds. Shows are now pleasant and low profile, not the big blockbusters as in the past. In contrast, the refurbishing of the facility and opening of two new galleries in the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, 21st and Guadalupe streets (tel. 512/471-8944), has provided a better showcase for some of its flashier holdings -- if you can call the world's first photograph and a rare Gutenberg Bible flashy. But Austin's major cultural event -- both from a financial and artistic standpoint -- isn't going to occur until February 2006, when the Blanton Museum of Art debuts in a new building on the University of Texas campus.
As anyone who's been in town on a football weekend can attest, Austin's interests are far from exclusively effete. Witness the introduction in 2004 of the Austin Wranglers (tel. 512/491-6600; www.austinwranglers.com), the newest members of the professional Arena Football League.
The first link in what is now the world's largest organic and natural foods supermarket, Whole Foods Market, 525 N. Lamar (tel. 512/476-1206), celebrated its 25th birthday in early 2005 by opening a huge new store near its original downtown location. Features include a 600-seat amphitheater, a cooking school, and on-site massages. And to fill an apparently insatiable local appetite for fresh produce -- and culinary-related activities -- the city saw the recent debut of the Austin Farmers' Market, held downtown at Republic Square Park, 4th Street at Guadalupe, every Saturday from 9am to 1pm March through November (tel. 512/236-0074).
The Texas Hill Country
The relatively rural region around San Antonio and Austin changes less readily and steadily than the big cities, but that doesn't mean nothing ever happens here. For one thing, the area has a new central information resource that's actual -- as opposed to existing only on the Internet or telephone -- unlike similar such organizations in the past. The Texas Hill Country Visitor Center, 803 W. Hwy. 281 S. (tel. 830/868-5700; www.hillcountryinfo.com), can be found just outside downtown Johnson City.
In addition, several interesting new restaurants and lodgings have cropped up in the region -- as well as a couple of attractions. Here are some highlights.
The hottest arrival on the dining scene -- such as it is -- is not in Bandera itself: Mac and Ernie's serves updated comfort food in a shack some 12 miles west of town.
Surprise: In Fredericksburg, a town best known for its B&Bs (more than 300 of them at last count), most in historic structures, the most interesting new place to lay your head is at the tiny airport. The Hangar Hotel does a delightful spin on 1940s flyboy style, replete with adjoining officers club. More typical of what's happening, tourist magnet-wise, is Cuvee, a wine bar, restaurant, and lounge that opened on the newly developing west end of Main Street.
New Braunfels has always touted its Germanic past and left tourists to discover its great river scene on their own. Now the local chamber of commerce has changed its website address to www.nbjumpin.com to reflect the town's interest in letting everyone know about its watery attractions. It doesn't hurt that the Texas Ski Ranch, a 70-acre complex with two lakes and water toys galore -- as well as a track and skate park -- opened on the outskirts of town. Both sports enthusiasts who've worked up an appetite and sophisticates who haven't welcome the arrival of Myron's, a big-city-style steakhouse in a converted theater.
West Texas
El Paso
Few outsiders even knew that El Paso had a hockey team -- but that's okay, because it no longer does. The El Paso Buzzards ceased operations at the end of 2003 after ownership failed to pay rent on the team's home ice.
Marfa
The buzz about Marfa continues to be strong in arts communities as far away as SoHo, and there's been a fair amount of development in recent years. But it's still a sleepy West Texas town, and that's at the heart of its appeal. The number of galleries has doubled since our last edition; by the time you read this, the renovated Thunderbird Marfa, 600 W. San Antonio St. (tel. 877/729-1984), will have reopened under the auspices of the owners of Austin's hip Hotel San Jose.
Midland-Odessa
The George W. Bush Childhood Home, 1412 Ohio Ave., in Midland (tel. 432/682-1111; www.bushchildhoodhome.org), where W., H. W., and family lived from 1951 to 1955 has been restored to its 1950s appearance and open to the public since early 2005. On the campus of the University of Texas of the Permian Basin at 4901 E. University Blvd. in Odessa, sits a scale replica of Stonehenge -- a great bizarro photo opportunity -- that was unveiled in summer 2004.
Del Rio
The newest incarnation of West Texas's original espresso bar, Xprezzo, 330 Pecan St. (tel. 830/734-0553), has daily lunch specials for around $5 and delicious homemade baked goods. Jay Johnson of West Texas's preeminent B&B, the Villa Del Rio, opened a gallery at 900 Pecan St. (tel. 830/734-8636) and can point you to several others in the city's burgeoning arts scene. Pecos Jack (tel. 832/276-6558 or 830/768-1100) is now offering guided canoe trips on the area's rivers, namely the Rio Grande and the Pecos.
Big Bend and Guadalupe National Park
Big Bend National Park
Homeland Security policy continues to ban the onetime tradition of park visitors crossing the Rio Grande into the adjacent Mexican villages. Where many Mexicans will still approach tourists to ferry them across, authorities can -- and will -- prosecute violators.
After succumbing to a fire soon after its grand opening in 2003, Ocotillo (tel. 432/424-5000), the fine dining restaurant at Lajitas, the Ultimate Hideout, reopened in 2004 and is as good as ever, serving up the best wild game plates for hundreds of miles.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Where admission was previously free, the park instituted a $3 per-person entry fee in March 2003.
Panhandle Plains
Amarillo
After a renovation, the Don Harrington Discovery Center, 1200 Streit Dr. (tel. 806/355-9547), reopened in 2003 with a state-of-the-art digital theater system. As of 2005, the Amarillo Symphony, the Amarillo Opera, and Lone Star Ballet have a new home: the $27-million Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, 400 S. Buchanan St.
The Amarillo Dillas, Amarillo's longtime minor league baseball franchise, ceased operations after the 2004 season.
Canyon
Five rustic rental cabins at Palo Duro Canyon State Park (tel. 806/488-2227) have been restored and are available for rental, bringing the total number of cabins here to seven.
Lubbock
The Spanish-themed Barcelona Court Hotel became a top-notch Embassy Suites, 5212 S. Loop 289 (tel. 800/362-2779), in 2003. A new highlight of Lubbock's culinary landscape, Café J, 2605 19th St. (tel. 806/743-5400), is a hip and homey hangout specializing in pastas, crepes, and heartier fare.
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